2 We would adore thee, God sublime,
Whose power and wisdom, love and grace,
Are greater than the round of time,
And wider than the bounds of space;
O how shall thought expression find,
All lost in thine immensity!
How shall we seek thee, glorious Mind,
Amid thy dread infinity!
3 But thou art present with us here,
As in thy glittering, high domain;
And grateful hearts and humble fear
Can never seek thy face in vain.
Help us to praise thee, Lord of light,
Help us thy boundless love declare,
And while we seek thy face to-night
Aid us, and hearken to our prayer.
1 DAY unto day doth utter speech,
And night to night thy voice makes known; Through all the earth, where thought may reach, Is heard the glad and solemn tone;
And worlds beyond the farthest star
Whose light hath reached the human eye,
Catch the high anthem from afar,
That rolls along immensity.
2 O Holy Father! 'mid the calm
And stillness of the evening hour,
We too would lift our solemn psalm,
To praise thy goodness and thy power;
For over us, as over all,
Thy tender mercies still extend,
Nor vainly shall the contrite call
On thee, their Father and their Friend.
1 THE heavenly spheres to thee, O God,
Attune their evening hymn:
All wise, all holy, thou art praised
In song of seraphim!
Unnumbered systems, suns, and worlds
Unite to worship thee,
While thy majestic greatness fills
Space, time, eternity.
2 Nature, a temple worthy thee,
That beams with light and love;
Whose flowers so sweetly bloom below,
Whose stars rejoice above;
Whose altars are the mountain cliffs
That rise along the shore;
Whose anthems, the sublime accord
Of storm and ocean roar: —
song of gratitude is sung
By spring's awakening hours;
Her summer offers at thy shrine
Its earliest, loveliest flowers;
Her autumn brings its ripened fruits,
In glorious-luxury given;
While winter's silver heights reflect
Thy brightness back to heaven.
4 On all thou smil'st; and what is man
Before thy presence, God?
A breath but yesterday inspired,
To-morrow but a clod.
That clod shall mingle in the vale,
But, kindled, Lord, by thee,
The spirit to thy arms shall spring,
To life, to liberty.
1 THUS far the Lord has led me on,
Thus far his power prolongs my days!
And every evening shall make known
Some fresh memorial of his grace.
2 Much of my time has run to waste,
And I, perhaps, am near my home;
But he forgives my follies past,
And gives me strength for days to come.
3 I lay my body down to sleep;
Peace is the pillow for my head:
While well-appointed angels keep
Their watchful stations round my bed.
4 Faith in his name forbids my fear:
O may thy presence ne'er depart!
And in the morning make me hear
Thy love and kindness in my heart.
5 Thus, when the night of death shall come,
My flesh shall rest beneath the ground,
And wait thy voice to rouse my tomb,
With sweet salvation in the sound.
1 THE Swift-declining day,
How fast its moments fly! While evening's broad and gloomy shade Gains on the western sky.
2 Ye mortals! mark its pace; And use the hours of light;
And know, your Maker can command
An instantaneous night.
His word blots out the sun
In its meridian blaze,
And cuts from smiling, vigorous youth
The remnant of its days.
On the dark mountain's brow
Your feet shall quickly slide;
And from its airy summit dash
Your momentary pride.
5 Give glory to the Lord,
Who rules the rolling sphere;
Submissive at his footstool bow,
And seek salvation there.
6 Then shall new lustre break
Through horror's darkest gloom, And lead you to unchanging light In a celestial home.
Safety in God.-Morning or Evening.
1 THEY Who on the Lord rely
Safely dwell though danger's nigh;
Lo, his sheltering wings are spread
O'er each faithful servant's head.
2 Vain temptation's wily snare;
Christians are Jehovah's care:
Harmless flies the shaft by day,
Or in darkness wings its way.
3 When they wake, or when they sleep,
Angel guards their vigils keep;
Death and danger may be near,
Faith and love have naught to fear.
"Abide with us, for it is toward evening."
1 'T is gone, that bright and orbed blaze,
Fast fading from our wistful gaze;
Yon mantling cloud has hid from sight
The last faint pulse of quivering light.
2 Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear!
It is not night, if thou be near;
O may no earth-born cloud arise
To hide thee from thy servant's eyes.
3 When the soft dews of kindly sleep
My wearied eyelids gently steep,
Be
my last thought, how sweet to rest
For ever on my Saviour's breast.
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